Suppression Staffing Policy

Transcription

1 Policy 216 Suppression Staffing Policy PURPOSE AND SCOPE The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for suppression staffing DEFINITIONS Dual Exception: Two exceptions to the daily shift roster per member per 24-hour shift. Emergency Paid Leave: Paid Leave requested after the 1600 hours deadline, for purpose of illness and/or emergency. Emergency Staffing: Includes both emergency holdover and/or emergency recall. Exception: A change to the daily shift roster. Exemption: A member's opportunity to be passed over for one (1) mandatory, per list (Full and Partial/SME) once each 6 month cycle. Full Shift Mandatory Hire Date: The date a member was mandatory-hired and worked 12 hours or more. Hire Full Shift Pick List: A list of the names of members voluntarily available for backfill shifts of 12 hours or more. List ranked by total hours worked during the current six (6) month cycle. Hire Partial Shift List: A list of names of members voluntarily available to work partial shift backfill coverage of less than 12 hours. List ranked by total hours worked during the current six (6) month cycle. Long Term Vacancies: Vacancies that typically occur by personnel promoting, retiring, sustaining on the job injury, off the job STD or LTD, or termination. Mandatory List: A list of all Captains, Engineers, and Firefighters (excluding probationary firefighters who have not yet completed four (4) months of employment), separtated by rank and ranked in order of (1) last dates worked, (2) total hours, (3) promotion date, (4) senority. Paid Leave (PL): Accumulated leave time that may be used for vacation, sick leave, or personal leave purposes. Partial Mandatory Hire Date: The date a member was mandatory-hired and worked less than12 hours. Partial Shift: For purposes of selecting backfill coverage, a partial shift is defined as less than 12 hours and backfill coverage for paid leave and union leave requests is provided by the member requesting the leave. For administrative leaves (special assignments, jury duty, etc.) backfill coverage is selected from: (1) the Hire Partial Shift Pick List for less than 12 hours. Rank-for-Rank: Captain for Captain, Engineer for Engineer, and Firefighter for Firefighter. Seniority: Determined, in order, by: 1) Hire date, 2) Promotion date, and 3) Rank on eligibility list. Suppression Staffing Policy - 1

2 Specialty-for-Specialty: Paramedic for Paramedic, HazMat for HazMat, and other specialties as indicated. Special Staffing Day Picklist: Picklist used to fill all Special Staffing Days. Trade Off: Activity that occurs when a person normally scheduled to work is off due to a trade time off. Abbreviated as TO. Trade Worked: Activity that occurs when a person not normally scheduled to work is working in place of one who is off on a trade Off, Abbreviated as TW. Telestaff Six (6) Month Cycles: April 1 - September 30; and October 1 - March 31. At the beginning of each cycle the Full Shift and Partial Shift Total Hours Banks will reset to zero (0) PAID LEAVE (PL) A member may utilize paid leave according to the following procedures: Paid leave may be taken in one-half hour increments, subject to the provisions of this procedure. Battalion Chiefs may deny paid leave to a member if the member s absence is not in the best interest of the Fire Department. Battalion Chiefs may grant emergency paid leave and provide coverage from the voluntary pick lists or the mandatory list PAID LEAVE REQUESTS Members may enter exceptions into Telestaff via telephone or computer at any time up until 1600 hours the day before the exception is to occur. It is always the responsibility of the member requesting leave or time off to report or enter the exception according to the procedures set forth in this policy. Members requesting 12 hours or more of paid leave shall enter their leave request. Telestaff will select and notify coverage from the Hire Full Shift Pick List. Under normal circumstances, coverage is guaranteed and the Mandatory Hiring Mode will be used if necessary. Members requesting 11.5 hours or less of paid leave shall submit their request along with rankfor-rank, specialty for specialty coverage that they shall obtain themselves. In the event that an individual is unable to obtain like specialty coverage, he or she may request approval for nonspecialty coverage. Such requests shall be presented to the staffing Battalion Chief(s) prior to 1600 hours. The Battalion Chief shall review the request prior to completing the roster. If the request is approved, the Battalion Chief will enter the exception into Telestaff and attach a note indicating approval. The member must check the status of his/her exception via Telestaff. Suppression Staffing Policy - 2

3 Request for Emergency Paid Leave (paid leave requested after 1600 hours for the next day) for illness, family illness, etc., shall be submitted to the Staffing Battalion Chief by the following method: By phone directly to the Staffing Battalion Chief office prior to 2200 hours or after 0600 hours. It is the sole responsibility of the member to ensure that the message is received by the Staffing Battalion Chief VOLUNTARY PICK LIST AND AVAILABILITY Members may make themselves available to work voluntarily backfill coverage by adding their name to the Hire Full, Special Medic Event and/or Partial Pick Lists via Telestaff at any time up until 1600 hours the day before the day they intend to be available. A member may also delete his or her name from the Pick Lists up until 1600 hours the day before. Members on the Voluntary Pick Lists must be available by direct phone contact, and are obligated to work when notified up to 0800 hours on the day they are signed up for. After 0800 hrs, members are not obligated to work voluntary backfill. If a member on a Pick List does not acknowledge notification of service, or fails to report to the assignment when contacted prior to 0800 hrs, he or she will nevertheless have the total hours recorded in the appropriate Total Hours Worked File as a penalty code, and may be subject to discipline. It is the policy of the Fire Department to not allow personnel to work in excess of five (5) consecutive shifts, one hundred-twenty (120) hours. The one hundred-twenty (120) hour rule may be superceded by the department for emergency staffing situations. A twenty-four (24) hour rest/reset period between work cycles must occur prior to the individual being eligible to work again. Anytime the Engineer Downgrade Procedure is in effect, the following parameters will go into effect: Fire Engineers on the Engineer Downgrade to Firefighter Picklist in Telestaff will be utilized to fill firefighter vacancies when no firefighters are on the picklist or to maintain specialty selection VOLUNTARY BACKFILL HIRING Telestaff will assign Backfill as follows: Full shifts of 12 to 24 hours will be filled from the Hire Full Shift Pick List. Members available on the list will be ranked and assigned in order of least total hours first. (The member with the least total hours will get the longest shift assignment, i.e. 24 hours. For a non-paid leave partial shift (Jury Duty, Short Term Disability, Special Assignments, Union Leave etc) of less than 12 hours, the vacancy will be filled from the Hire Partial Shift Pick List. Members available on the list will be ranked and assigned in order of least total hours first. Suppression Staffing Policy - 3

4 Telestaff always lists the backfill with the roster code PB, which indicates a backfill to cover a paid leave vacancy. For other types of backfill, the Battalion Chief will modify the roster code by adding a detail code (See Section Definitions ). For the purpose of daily staffing, if an insufficient number of firefighters are available and the "Engineer Downgrade" is in effect, members signed up on that list will be hired prior to firefighters being mandatoried. As a general rule, a Fire Engineer will not be allowed to backfill in a Firefighter position if Firefighters are on the voluntary Telestaff "pick-list" and available to work; unless such Fire Engineer is mandated to perform work in a Firefighter position pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding. If a Fire Engineer voluntarily downgrades and works in a Firefighter position, such employee shall be compensated at his/her normal rate of pay, including specialty pay. If there are no employees classified as Fire Engineer or Firefighter who voluntarily sign-up on the Telestaff Picklist and are available to work, then the rank in which the vacancy occurs shall be mandatory filled as identified in Section Mandatory Backfill Hiring. Firefighters and Engineers may be moved for specialty coverage from their regular roster assignments so the member with the lowest hours can be hired from the picklist. As a general rule, Captains will not be moved. The Staffing Battalion Chief may elect to move personnel for partial shifts for organizational needs (ie. specialty coverage). When all volunteers have been utilized and vacancies still exist, the Battalion Chief shall initiate Mandatory Hiring. (See Section Mandatory Backfill Hiring) Vacancies that occur after 0800 hours may be filled by the most expedient means in order to satisfy operational needs, at the discretion of the Battalion Chief. A member may work more than one (1) paid backfill exception in a single shift provided that there is at least one (1) hour between exceptions TOTAL HOURS WORKED BANKS Hours worked will be recorded and totaled in two banks: Full Shift Total Hours Bank When a member works a backfill shift of 12 hours or more, those hours are added to the individual s total hours in the Full Shift Total Hours Bank. Partial Shift Total Hours Bank When a member works a backfill shift of less than12 hours, those hours are added to the individual s total hours in the Partial Shift Total Hours Bank. Both files will be reset to zero (0) hours on April 1 and October 1 of each year. At that time, the Pick Lists will sort in the following order: Suppression Staffing Policy - 4

5 1. New period least total hours 2. Previous period least total hours 3. Last date worked 4. Seniority date (oldest hire date first) MANDATORY BACKFILL HIRING When all volunteers have been utilized and either full or partial shift vacancies still exist, the Battalion Chief shall initiate Mandatory Hiring. Members may be mandatory-hired for full or partial shifts, both for daily staffing of permanent fire suppression companies, as well as for extra companies placed into service according to various operational needs. Selection for mandatory hiring will be made based on the order of the Mandatory List. Members will be ranked on the mandatory lists according to last date worked. First Priority for hiring will fall to the shift going off-duty the morning of the mandatory shift day (the on-duty shift), followed by members on the roster currently on days off. All members shall have one (1) mandatory exemption for each of the two (2) list (Full and Partial/ SME) to be used at their discretion each six (6) month cycle. The exemption must be entered into Telestaff by 1600 hours the day before. If the mandatory list does not reach the member(s) that exercise their exemption, then it shall be retained by the member for use at another time during that six (6) month cycle. Exemptions may not be carried over from one six (6) month cycle to another. A mandatory exemption may not be utilized for mandatories on Special Staffing Days - Section If all on-duty firefighters and engineer downgrades have been utilized for the following days staffing of firefighter positions, and an attempt has been made to contact all off-duty firefighters via a Telestaff message, the remaining vacancies will be filled by Emergency Holdover. For example, mandatorying engineers for firefighter positions, mandatorying firefighters who would normally be exempt (ie. last 10 hours or more off paid leave, or personnel at the maximum allowed consecutive hours worked). Known long-term vacancies expected to require mandatory backfill on Special Staffing Days as defined in the Special Staffing Days Section, will be filled by mandatory hiring and notification made on the 5th day of the month in which the special staffing day occurs. If the Special Staffing Day occurs prior to the 5th day of the month, it will be filled on the 5th day of the preceding month (i.e. July 4th will be filled on June 5th). A member who is mandatory-hired must report for duty as indicated or provide an alternate rank-for-rank, specialty-for-specialty replacement appropriate for the position the member was mandatoried for. If a replacement is provided, the originally hired member will NOT get credit for the mandatory hours. The replacement member will have the date/hours recorded in both his or her Mandatory record and the appropriate (Full or Partial) Total Hours Bank. Suppression Staffing Policy - 5

6 A member who found a replacement is not subject to be remandatoried, except under emergency staffing situations EMERGENCY HOLDOVER When insufficient members have reported for duty to maintain full fire suppression staffing strength, a member may be mandatory hired and held-over in a work assignment, regardless of their ranking on the Mandatory List. When such a holdover exceeds 4 hours in length, the date will be recorded as a Mandatory Hire on the appropriate list AVAILABILITY Members shall normally not be mandatory-hired to work periods that exceed one hundered twenty (120) hours. Members on the roster who have taken the last ten (10) hours or more off, are normally not available to be mandatoried unless in an emergency hold-over situation Members on Paid Leave are still subject to Emergency Recall. Probationary firefighters, beginning at the completion of their first four (4) month station assignment, are eligible to sign-up and work Paid Backfill, and are eligible for mandatory hire. Probationary Firefighters are subject to Emergency Holdover and Emergency Recall at all times SPECIAL STAFFING DAYS Special Staffing Days are: New Years Eve, New Years Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, AFA Retirement Party, July 4th, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and AFA Christmas Party. Predictable vacancies such as IA, STD, LTD, Special Medic Events (SME's), special assignment etc., will be filled off the Special Staffing Day Picklist. A memorandum identifying the openings and the member assigned to work will be sent out via the 5th day of the month in which the holiday occurs. If the special staffing day occurs prior to the 5th of the month, it will be filled on the 5th of the month before the special staffing day (i.e. July 4 will be filled on June 5) Backfill for such vacancies will first be filled from the voluntary Pick Lists. If insufficient volunteers are available from the voluntary picklists, vacancies will be filled by mandatory hiring. The shift on duty the day before the Special Staffing Day shall be mandatory hired for the known long term vacancies off the Special Staffing Day Picklist, and notified via memorandum on the 5th of the month in which the special staffing day occurs. For Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day, the shift on days off will be mandatory hired off the Special Staffing Day Picklist and notified on the 5th of the month in which the special staffing day occurs. A mandatory exemption may not be utilized for mandatories on Special Staffing Days Members requesting paid leave on Special Staffing Days must provide their own coverage: Suppression Staffing Policy - 6

7 Coverage must be rank-for-rank, specialty-for-specialty (see specialty exception Section ) Such exceptions shall be submitted to the Staffing Battalion Office and will be entered into Telestaff by the Staffing Battalion Chiefs. Such exceptions shall be submitted, and accepted, only after the Staffing Battalion Chiefs have issued notification that long-term vacancies have been covered for the upcoming Special Staffing Day. This will be staffed on the 5th of the month in which the Special Staffing Day occurs. Unplanned vacancies such as Emergency Paid Leave, etc., will be staffed according to daily procedures. Members working backfill on Special Staffing Days shall NOT have the hours recorded in a Total Hours Bank SPECIALTY PROGRAM STAFFING This policy provides staffing direction for specialty programs which require a minimum staffing level (Paramedic, USAR and Hazmat) Advanced Life Support (ALS) units will have a minimum of two (2) bonused paramedics assigned to it daily. The USAR Station will have a minimum of four (4) USAR bonused personnel assigned to the station daily. One (1) of the four (4) personnel will be a Captain receiving the USAR bonus. The captain requirement will be suspended by the Staffing Battalion Chief when two (2) or more USAR captains are unavailable due to IA, MW or overhead assignment, which includes but is not limited to, a Rapid Extraction Module Support (REMS) and/or Task Force 5 assignment. The Hazmat Station will have a minimum of four hazmat bonused personnel assigned to the station daily. One (1) of the four (4) personnel will be a captain receiving the Hazmat bonus. The captain requirement will be suspended by the Staffing Battalion Chief when two (2) or more hazmat captains are unavailable due to IA, MW or overhead assignment, which includes but is not limited to, a Task Force 5 assignment. Trades between Specialty/Non-Specialty personnel will be handled as identified in Section Shift Trades SPECIAL MEDIC EVENTS (SME) Special Medic Events (SME) shall be staffed utilizing the Partial/SME Picklist in accordance with daily staffing procedures (after 1600 hours the day before the event occurs), and in conjunction with Policy 535 (Special Events) The exception to the above shall be SME's which affect/cover two shifts (ie. Disney Marathons), those events shall be staffed on the 21st of the month prior to the month the event occurs. SME's which cover two shifts (ie. Disney Marathons) shall be staffed by hiring the on-coming shift in early and holding over the off-going shift. If there are excessive exceptions by either Suppression Staffing Policy - 7

8 the members of the on-coming shift or off-going shift, staff may elect to hire all personnel for the event from the shift on days off. Members who sign-up and are selected from the SME picklist to work an SME, shall be credited with a mandatory and move to the bottom of the Mandatory SME Picklist. Special Medic Events (SME's) that fall on special staffing days shall be staffed in accordance with Section Special Staffing Days STRIKE TEAM / OVERHEAD ASSIGNMENTS When personnel are deployed as part of a strike team or overhead assignment the following parameters will apply upon their return: If their assignment was longer than five (5) days/one hundered-twenty (120) hours, the member(s) will be provided a twenty-four (24) hour reset/rest period. At the end of the reset/ rest period the member will be required to return to work. If their assignment was less than five (5) days/one-hundred-twenty (120) hours, the member will be required to return to their normal work schedule immediatley upon returning to the city. If a member is demobbed from an incident that is ten (10) hours or less driving distance from Anaheim, and the incident provides them a hotel to rest at during their drive home, that member will be considered to have had their twenty-four (24) hour reset/rest period and expected to return to their normal work schedule upon returning to the city. Replacement Procedure for crews being replaced on an incident The personnel on the incident will be relieved utilizing the personnel assigned to the unit being relieved the day the relief is occurring. (ie. E310 is being relieved on Friday; the crew assigned to T10 on Friday will be the relief crew). If a member(s) being used as part of the relief crew are unable to go, those members must find their own relief (rank for rank; specialty for specialty) SHIFT TRADES Shift trades are permitted with the following parameters. Full shift and partial shift trades are permitted between members of equal rank and specialty. In the event an individual is unable to obtain like specialty coverage, he or she may request approval for non-specialty coverage by submitting their request to their respective Battalion Chief. Approval of the non-specialty trade will be determined by taking the following items into consideration. o o o Request may be submitted up to thirty (30) days in advance of the requested trade date Non-specialty trades will not be approved if it drops the number of specialty personnel on-duty that day to below five (5) Approval will be determined based on the order the request(s) are submitted. Suppression Staffing Policy - 8

9 If the specialty/non-specialty trade request is approved, the Battalion Chief will enter the exception into Telestaff and attach a note indicating approval. Full shift trade/trade in any combination of hours. The member who is regularly scheduled to work and utilizing Trade Off (TO) retains the payroll responsibility for those work hours. This means that if the member scheduled to work Trade Worked (TW) fails to report for duty, the Battalion Chief shall enter paid leave for the member regularly scheduled to work and staff the vacancy according to daily procedures. No members shall have greater than 480 total hours of outstanding trade time (combination of Trade Off and Trade Worked) at any time. All trade hours must be reconciled (i.e. paid back) within 365 days of the date on which the trade hours were originated. Probationary firefighters are not eligible to work shift trades until successful completion of their six (6) month testing Members who fail to reconcile trade hours within 365 days will be subject to the FBOR process and required to reconcile the trade within fourteen (14) calendar days. This applies to both members involved in the trade hours. It shall be the responsibility of each company officer (Captain) to monitor the outstanding trade time total hours of each member of his or her company and to ensure compliance with the reconciliation of trade hours as outlined above. This is facilitated by viewing the individual member s History in the Staff Management window for that member. The history will show how many hours the individual owes and is owed. The total of both shall not exceed 480 hours at any time ANNUAL AND MANDATORY TRAINING Members who miss mandatory training, to include but not limited to those listed below, during the days offered by the department, will be required to make up the training on their own time without compensation: Paramedic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) RT 130 Wildland Training Hazmat First Responder Operatioins (FRO) Medical Examinations Fitness Assessments Fit Testing Swift Water Rescue (SWR) Refresher Suppression Staffing Policy - 9

10 If a member misses mandatory training that makes a job required certification/license inactive (i.e. Paramedic, EMT), the individual will be placed on Leave Without Pay until they receive the required training and their certification/license is current STAFF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION Individual members shall be solely responsible for maintenance of accurate and current personal information for each of the following fields in their Staff Management window in Telestaff: Cellular phone number (if applicable) in Contact 1 window Text phone number in Contact 2 window address in Contact 3 window Home phone number in Contact 4 window Spouse (if applicable) Address Birthdate Sex Inability to contact a member because of incorrect information, specifically phone numbers, shall be the responsibility of the member. If incorrect information results in a member being unavailable between 0600 and 0800 hours when an attempt is made to contact he or she for backfill, that member shall be charged the backfill hours as indicated in the Voluntary Picklist Section. Suppression Staffing Policy - 10